Combined Travel Neck Pillow With an Attached Hood Assembly

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a new neck pillow and integrated hood (hereinafter known as “Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly”) for the purposes of providing comfort, support, and warmth for travel purposes. 
     This invention upgrades a standard U-shaped travel neck pillow with an integrated hood that is attached and rolled up into the U-shaped travel neck pillow. Users of the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly invention have the ability to have the U-shaped neck pillow provide comfort and support for the upper vertebrae as well as the neck and head area while resting or sleeping. In addition a hood can be rolled out from a zippered compartment on the Neck Pillow to provide warmth and head coverage to the user. Accordingly, this invention provides a single, compact, integrated device that combines the advantages of both a travel neck pillow and hood.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX

Not Applicable

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, this patent application provides an Integrated Neck Pillow and Head Assembly to provide simultaneous neck comfort and support as well as warmth and privacy from the hood for users of the invention. The Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly has the following properties.

In its closed form, viewing the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly from the top, the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly resembles a standard U-shaped neck pillow that is used to provide neck support and comfort during travel, with the only exception being the existence of a zippered compartment that houses the integrated hood. The actual zipper to provide access to the hood will be a covered zipper, wherein the zipper is covered by a layer of the neck pillow exterior fabric to shield the user from having to contact the zipper directly from any part of the neck and body. The Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly in this embodiment can be filled with any of a number of filers that could be synthetic or natural, and could include but not be limited to cotton, wool, foam, duck or goose down, or microbead. The filling material is not tantamount to the critical claims in this application and do not affect the uniqueness of the claims.

In one of the preferred embodiments of the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly, a hidden or integrated hood can be unrolled (but still remain attached) to the neck pillow to cover the users' head and ears. The hood is unrolled from the neck pillow by opening up a covered zippered compartment in the top of the pillow. Further the hood portion of the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly is attached and permanently sewn to the inside of the neck pillow.

Once use of the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly is complete, the hood can be re-rolled up into the inside compartment of the neck pillow. Then, upon subsequent closure of the zipper contained on the exterior surface of the neck pillow, the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly returns to take on the form and function of a standard U-shaped neck pillow device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 Diagram showing bottom view of the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly described in this invention.

FIG. 2 Diagram showing top, perspective, view of the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly showing the Hood zipper compartment.

FIG. 3 Diagram showing top view of the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly with the Hood completely extended.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly described in this application provides the following components. The Neck Pillow exterior can be manufactured utilizing any color or fabric so long as it provides softness and comfort to the user. One section of the interior of the neck pillow contains filler material, artificial, or synthetic, as described in the previous Summary section. Another section in the neck pillow immediately above the filler section contains a rolled up hood accessible through a covered zipper on the exterior top side of the neck pillow.

Unzipping the zipper on the neck pillow allows users to unroll the attached hood. The hood resembles a hood normally found on a jacket with a hood or “hoodie”. The hood is attached to the neck pillow in a position so as to allow the base of the hood to fit snugly around the base of the neck of the wearer. The actual hood can be made of any material, and may or may not be of the same material as the neck pillow itself.

<FIG. 1> shows a top view of the Neck Pillow and Head Assembly. The diagram clearly shows a zipper 102 allowing access to a compartment that houses an attached hood. The diagram is shown with the zipper exposed for clarity but normally would be a covered zipper where the zipper is covered by an overlapping piece of the fabric from the neck pillow itself.

<FIG. 2> 201 shows the same Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly but viewed from the bottom. In this vide the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly resembles a standard U-shaped neck pillow.

<FIG. 3> 301 shows the Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly with the hood 302 fully extended from the hood compartment. 303 shows the zipper to the hood compartment fully open to allow the hood to be fully extended. 

1. A multi-purpose traveling Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly that combines the support and comfort provided by a U shaped neck pillow with an integrated hood structured in a hemispheric shape specifically to cover the entire back and side surfaces of a human subject's head snugly in an unattended manner so as to leave only a portion of the subject's face uncovered; wherein during use with all filler material remaining in the neck pillow continues to provide complete support and comfort; and wherein after use said hood can be rolled into a zippered opening in the interior top surface of the pillow.
 2. The Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly in claim 1, further comprising a drawstring that can be pulled tightly to allow hood to fit even more snugly around human subject's head.
 3. The Neck Pillow and Hood Assembly in claim 2, further comprising a sound deadening material sewn into that portion of the hood covering human subject's ears to improve in the attributes of providing privacy and warmth. 